Season 8, Episode 34. September 11, 2021.
Tennessee Apple Butter Making in Appalachia
Today, we are setting the table with a traditional food of Appalachia “Apple Butter”. Each year in the fall time of the Mountain South, you can find pockets of people who get together, and cook down bushels of apples, sugar and sometimes cinnamon into this biscuit slathering favorite. It is one of those old fashioned foods that is still a favorite on dinner tables near and far, and makes a favorite gift for the holidays. Almost as important as the final product is the sense of community and preservation of culinary traditions that these “Apple Butter makings” preserve.
Our featured guest is Derek Blankenship who is an Orthapedic Therapist at an East, Tennessee long term health and heath care facility in East Tennessee. Derrick and his family keep a family tradition of making apple butter each year at this time of the year in Fall Branch, TN. The recipe that they use dates back to 1905.
Fred Sauceman - Professor of Appalachian Studies, ETSU, Johnson City, Tennessee with a And also Amy shares a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast” by way of “All Recipes”.
And I (Amy Campbell) also share a recipe for “Apple Butter Pork Roast”, and Fred Sauceman shares a segment of Apple Butter making in the Mountain South, and a recipe for sausage balls with apple butter.
Links:
Fred Sauceman: -https://www.facebook.com/fred.sauceman?fref=ts
Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department: https://fallbranchvfd.org/
Apple Butter Pork Roast Recipe
Serves 6, Cook time: 3 hours, Prep time: 15 minutes
This recipe was found on the website: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/60492/apple-butter-pork-loin/
Ingredients:
- 2, 2 pound boneless pork loin roast (for a total of 4 pounds).
- Seasoning salt to taste
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1/4 c brown sugar
- 2 Tb water1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350
Step 2: Season the pork loins with seasoning salt, and place them in a 9x13 inch baking dish or small roasting pan. Pour apple juice over the pork, and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
Step 3: Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven. While the pork is roasting, mix together the apple butter, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and cloves. Remove pork roasts from the oven, and spread with apple butter mixture.
Step 4: Cover, and return to the oven for 2 hours, or until fork-tender.
Derrick Blankenship’s whole family is involved with the canning of the Apple Butter.
Derek Blankenship and daughter making apple butter.
Canning the Apple Butter is a family event.